


Before? maybe. Now? not so much.

by cold_nights_summer_days



Series: You Don't Have to Worry Anymore (on hiatus) [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame spoilers, Carol Danvers saves the day, Character Death Fix-It, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, He gets it, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Kinda, NOT STARKER - Freeform, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Sort Of, Tony Stark Does Not Die, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, and by god, because he's my hero and heroes dont get to die, because screw that movie, endgame made me sad so i wrote this, it doesnt exist in my mind, no beta we die like men, sort of at the end, they get happy endings because thats what they deserve, tony is not as self sacrifical as we thought anymore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-26 21:42:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18725554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cold_nights_summer_days/pseuds/cold_nights_summer_days
Summary: Avengers: Endgame made me sad, so I wrote some fix-it. I firmly believe Carol Danvers can wield the infinity gauntlet because she has the power of the tesseract literally in her body and also, she is just amazing.----------Tony Stark doesn't die. That't it. That's what happens. Oh, also, Peter Parker gets a hug from his mentor-- cough-dad-cough.





	Before? maybe. Now? not so much.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bucket_1917](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bucket_1917/gifts).



> Thank you so much for reading!! Comments (compliments and critisism) extrememly welcome. I'm always looking to improve my writing, so if you catch any mistakes, please let me know!
> 
> This fic is dedicated to my best friend Misty, who always inspires me to write and be better. Misty, I love you 3000.

Acrid smoke burned Tony’s lungs, his mask doing nothing to filter the air as he tried to breathe. Between being thrown to the ground and panic over knowing what he had to do to defeat Thanos, Tony couldn’t find it in himself to force air into his lungs. Bruce was the Hulk, for god’s sake, and he struggled to wear the gauntlet, let alone actually wield it. Tony knew he would die if he tried. But he also knew that he had to do this. Before, this sort of self-sacrificial thought wouldn’t have bothered him. When someone needed to do something big, it was always him risking his life. Now though, that thought terrified him. Now he had a family. A four-and-a-half-year-old daughter waiting for her dad to come. A wife who was fighting alongside him. A son who had just been brought back. 

Tony had a family now, and selfish though it was, he didn’t want to leave them. But he knew he had to. For them. For Morgan. For Pepper. For Peter. 

Repeating those words in his head like a mantra (for Morgan, for Pepper, for Peter) he forced his eyes to open. Tony scanned the broken battlefield for the gauntlet. He could see Rhodey only yards away, desperately firing at the enemies advancing on him. He could see Steve throwing Mjolnir and summoning lightening, giving Thor a run for his money. All around him he saw his friends, his found family, fighting with everything they had. He felt a pang in his chest at the thought of leaving. It would be so easy to give up now, lay still and wait for someone else to grab the gauntlet. But he couldn’t. For Morgan, for Pepper, for Peter.

Tony spotted the gauntlet a mere ten feet from where he was laying. The infinity stones glowed softly, seemingly unaware of the chaos raging around them. As if they were unaware that they had caused said chaos. He took a deep breath, steeling himself against what he was about to do. Doctor Strange’s words echoed through his head and Tony wanted to curse him. Wanted to curse the universe for making him do this. Instead, he ignored the shooting pain in his limbs and began to crawl. Tony made agonizingly slow progress towards his target. He wasn’t entirely sure whether that was on purpose or not. 

The seconds passed by slowly. The closer he got to the gauntlet, the less he wanted to reach it. Just as he stretched to grab it, Tony saw a red and blue boot dash into his peripheral. He had no idea who it was; half the people he knew had costumes with red and blue. The boot was accompanied by a voice his adrenaline-filled body almost didn’t recognize. 

“Stand down, Stark. I got this,” Carol Danvers said. She quickly bent over to grab the gauntlet, fingers barely holding onto it as she kept sprinting. Tony released the breath he wasn’t aware of holding as she sped off toward Thanos. He could barely think as pure relief flooded his system. Tony dropped his head to the ground, breathing hard. Tony didn’t know very much about Carol, but he did know how she had gotten her powers. One late night after returning to earth, he asked about her suit’s capabilities, only to learn that it was all her. Despite everything he’d been through, from gods to space, he thought it was crazy that she could fly at the speed of light. He only hoped that practically being part Tesseract would protect her from the infinity stones. 

Barely a minute later, the sound of soaring bullets and roaring explosions ceased. That could only mean one thing; Carol had done it. The landscape became eerily quiet as everyone watched their enemies crumble to ash. Tony wanted to cry. Finally, ten years later, his waking nightmare was finally over. He refused to rest just yet, though. He needed to find Peter and make sure the kid was okay, and the same with Pepper. And Rhodey and Bruce.

“FRIDAY,” Tony groaned, using the arm that hurt the least to push himself to his feet. “Where are Peter and Pepper?” 

Tony groaned again as he tried to walk. His adrenaline was beginning to crash.

“Boss, I recommend that you stay put. You are suffering from a severe concussion, multiple rib fractures as well as-“

“I’ll stay put later. I need to find them . . . make sure they’re all right.” Injuries be damned, Tony was going to find his kid and give him a hug that wasn’t battle-rushed. He was going to have Karen check him over for injuries and make sure he wasn’t hurt. And once he was absolutely sure that Peter wasn’t going to die again, he was going to wrap him in bubble wrap and stick him somewhere he would never get hurt again. 

Maybe the last part was a little unrealistic, but to be fair, Tony had just fought aliens for the third time. Cut him some slack, okay?

“Pepper and Peter have been notified of your location and will be here soon, In the meantime, Pepper has asked me to inform you that if you try to move, she will—” 

FRIDAY’s message was cut short by the sound of debris crunching underfoot and a loud, “Mr. Stark.” Tony quickly snapped his head towards the sound to see Peter running towards him. He had the mask off, showcasing his fluffy brown curls and dirt streaked face. 

“Oh, Peter,” Tony sighed, pressing the arc reactor to retract his suit. He needed to feel Peter, warm and breathing and alive in his arms. Peter crashed into his mentor, nearly knocking them both to the ground. They both held on tight, afraid the other would disappear if they let go. Tony could feel Peter’s heavy breathing against his throat where the kid had buried his face in Tony’s neck. Before, that would have made him uncomfortable. But now? Now Tony held him there, the breath on his neck a sign that his kid was warm and breathing and alive. It filled Tony with such relief that he never wanted to let go.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, don't forget to check out the rest of the series! Follow me on Instagram (cold.nights.summer.days) for updates on this project as well as others that I am working on. And if you want to scream with me about marvel, follow me on Tumblr (strmrider)!


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